Which Software to Purchase??

[paladin]

Apparently I didn't know quite as much as I thought I did about Rentrak after all. I'm still not 100% sure, but I'm starting to lean toward using them myself. Thanks for bringing it up lanna! Let us know how it works out. Good luck to you.

[lanna5]

paladin - Did you ever look into Rentrak? I've been with them for 6 months now and it's going pretty good, I have more copy depth so I was able to extend my rental periods for customers, which they really like.

Lanna

[paladin]

Yes I have, and I'm pretty sure I'll use them. I was waaaay off in my understanding of how it worked. The problem I'm facing now is the only compatible POS that I like is Phoenix. ($$$) I haven't demo'ed Alerion but I'm told its basically Phoenix. The price is right but its only for one terminal, I need at least two and preferably three but can't find a price. One of these days I'll probably get around to calling them about it.

[moviesgamesetc]

Paladin, you posted something about a monthly and daily fee, then found the answer. What was it?

[paladin]

Their website info says they charge a monthly access fee and a daily communication fee. I was wondering whether the daily communication fee was a "daily" fee, but their agreement specifies it as a monthly fee. Frankly I think its BS that you have to pay them for them decide how much you have to pay them.

[moviecritic202]

the monthly access fee for Rentrak is 39.95, typically on the first bill of the month

[paladin]

FIRST bill of the month? How often do they bill? I assumed (yeah, I know about assuming) that they billed monthly. I really need to get off my duff and call them.

[IVR]

They invoice weekly for transactions, end of term, guarantee fees and new product then monthly for communications. Normally all invoices are on 21 day terms.

[paladin]

Makes sense, I guess, since movies are released weekly.

[winblowzxp]

Rentrak has gotten better over the years.  I became closer to the vid business back in '98, when Rentrak was having its heyday, but I digress.

Rentrak was bad, really bad.  When it came time to order, you were told what you were going to get, and pretty much how many.  If you were small, you were under-ordered by default, and had to go somewhere else to suppliment your stock.  

I remember once going through the ordering software (DOS) and seeing a movie like Avatar with an order limit of 15, but a B movie that no one had heard of we had no option but to order 15 copies of that B movie.  Rentrak eventually dropped us, but now we are back with them and they aren't nearly as dictatorial as they were.  We're only using them to supplement bigger titles, which is great since we can send the extra stock to Rentrak.


Back to software...yes.  Unfortunately, we're still stuck with Take-1, I've been pressing the owners to go to something else (like any good Admin should do), and when we were dropped by Rentrak I started writing my own software.  If you're looking for software, I'd advise you avoid Take-1 like the plague, especially if you plan to do online sales.  I have tried exporting my inventory database seven ways to Sunday, and even going as far as disassembling the software itself to try and figure out how to get the database exported to at least a CSV file with no avail.  That was the biggest hurdle I faced when I was writing my software...getting thousands of titles from Take-1 to mine.  We're at a point now where we should make the journey to Phoenix.

[moviesgamesetc]

I still don't see how rentrax is cheaper with all the fees. I want to know how it all REALLY works. Yes, they can explain the concept but they are in the business to sell me their services so they won't tell me all the pros and CONS. It just sounds like I'd be renting and sending everything to them. My new release charge is 1 night for 2.80. Rerentals are the same.

[Hamlin]

I dont use rentrax either and for similar reasons, but it sounds to me like the only way it could work is to have multiple day rental periods, 1 day rentals I dont think will work with rentrax

[twinvid]

I don' have rentrak either but I do see multiple days as one of the big competitive advantages that can be gained by using rentrak.

[paladin]

I haven't decided for sure yet but I'm definitely leaning toward giving them a whirl. What I'm looking at is more depth of new releases with less investment that I may or may not make back. Example: If I buy, say, 40 copies of "Salt" at lets say $20 each I'm down $800 on one title. At $2.50/day rental fee I have to turn each copy 8 times before I see a dime. How many titles have the legs to continue turning all copies for more than a week or two?
With Rentrak I would lay out $60 for those copies and after less than 2 turns I make $1.25 each ($1.25 minimum fee on Sony) profit. When turns slow I don't pay anything if the copies don't rent, so I've got no expense to recoup on those copies. Furthermore, after the lease period I can send back any unsold copies and avoid paying anything further for them if I choose, as opposed to hoping I can liquidate all those copies I paid $20 each for. Perhaps best of all I'm not throwing all that dough at a title that turns out to be a dog!
As far as the actual Rentrak fees, I'm not too worried about $40/month in the grand scheme of things (assuming there are no hidden fees I missed).
As I said I haven't used them or decided for sure whether I will but I like the idea of not having so much of my money tied up.

[winblowzxp]

It's great to use them to supplement your stock.  The plan that we're on now is basically a cherry picking one.  They don't make us buy anything we don't want.